White House Media Event Staged - EGADS!

The mainstream media and their lefty compatriots were all abuzz yesterday about the media Q&A the president conducted with some troops in Iraq. The Washington reported for the local WB affiliate seriously intoned "what you're about to see may shock you". And what was his devastating news? The teleconference had been staged for the press! Can you imagine that - the White House staging an event for the press?

Of course it was staged. Every White House media event is carefully planned to put the best possible spin on the situation. A good media guy never lets things fall to chance, and they did their job. There certainly was nothing secret about the staging, since there was video of the White House coordinator working with the troops in Iraq via the video link to prepare them for the event. And since most troopers aren't actors, the answers they gave did sound awfully scripted. Was it the best staged media event ever? Nope. But it was probably typical of many.

After the Rumsfeld incident in Iraq when a reporter planted a question with one of the troops, the PR boys in the White House probably didn't want to take too many chances with extemporaneous questions or answers, and I can't blame them. They're trying to get specific points across, and that's what government officials do. Both sides do it, and the shock displayed by the media was more than a little disingenuous.

The next time you see Chuckie Schumer or Nancy Pelosi standing in front of a backdrop that says "Save Social Security - Shoot Republicans!", let's see if anyone in the mainstream media complains that the event was staged.

UPDATE: A soldier involved in the "staged" event is blogging about it.